Boyer Ave gets sharrowed as city unveils Bicycle Master Plan update

Image: Montlaker

Notice anything new on Boyer? City crews were out earlier this week painting new parking lane stripes and bicycle sharrows on the road as part of the 2007 Bicycle Master Plan. In the past five years, the city has painted 129 miles of roadway with new lane markings and sharrows.

Image: Montlaker

The results? Since 2007, sharrows have proven to calm traffic speeds some by providing a visual cue reminding drivers to share the road. But sharrows have also been deemed ineffective in attracting new cyclists to still busy arterials. According to Seattle Bike Blog, the master plan is not keeping pace with its goal of tripling bicycle use by 2017.

Now five years in to its ten-year plan, Seattle is updating its Bicycle Master Plan. Over the summer, SDOT collected public feedback on cycling routes and candidates for Neighborhood Greenways (see the May Flyer, p.12). Yesterday, they unveiled a draft update based on that feedback. Here is the map for the Montlake area:

Image: SDOT via Seattle Bike Blog

SDOT is holding an open house next week at UW for the plan update and to collect more feedback now that people can see what it might look like. Cycle tracks on 24th Ave? A safe route to Montlake School? Usable paths over 520? And the (multi)million dollar question — how can we improve the failing pedestrian and bicycle mobility over the Montlake Bridge? Check it out and see what Montlake’s streets might look like circa 2017 in the future.